Cobalt Core

Breaking out of time loops with the power of friendship.

Why

Why Not

Impressions

As someone whose time to play games is more limited these days, my favourite thing about Cobalt Core was that it had a story with a clear and satsfying endpoint; which left me feeling I'd experienced all the game had to offer. That's not to say I was glad it was over, or that it lacks replayability, but I'm always wary of picking up a roguelike/lite for fear of getting sucked in to 100s of hours of gameplay while my backlog steadily grows.

Cobalt Core sets itself apart from other roguelites by giving you a nice clear stopping point which says "Nice job, you're done!" while still offering daily challenges, higher difficulties and variety in viable builds for those who want to stick around. This could easily be something you frequently come back for a run or two, but it doesn't insist on it by constantly dangling new carrots in front of you.

A nice little detail about the story (I think) is that since the ending is gated behind restoring all memories for all crewmates, you're basically guaranteed to see all the cool little in-run interactions between crewmates/other characters. In fact I think it might be tuned so that you see all of them in the minimum number of runs needed to beat the game, which is cool because it guarantees you don't miss out but also leaves runs after that feeling a little empty without new interactions. Those interactions bring a nice spark of variety to runs outside the main gameplay loop, and are definitely missed when they stop.

Gameplay

Ah yes, this matters too. In fact most people are probably wondering how you get several paragraphs into a review of a roguelite without talking about it. Not to worry, no skeletons hiding in this closet, the gameplay's fun and varied. Each crewmate brings their own focus to the table, and each combination of three I tried felt meaningfully different to the others.

A certain heat-focused character was my favourite, both for their personality and the endless waves of damage their cards enabled when paired with multiple Jupiter Cannons. There are also other ships, each with an interesting gimmick, but I quickly fell in love with Jupiter for the ability to set up multiple drones which duplicate every attack you play, allowing for huge turns where you hundred to zero an enemy ship.

Most cards are text-free and clear about what they do despite that, so kudos to the design team. You're offered 3 after each regular encounters, with mini-boss/boss encounters offering higher rarities. Events and mini-bosses keep the game's quirky style and are always entertaining to encounter for the first time, while often offering meaningful benefits if you can overcome some challenge/pay the price. A highlight was playing space soccer, complete with yellow-cards, even if I wasn't the biggest fan of the (funny) rewards.

Conclusion

A charming, well designed game which will give you a tight 25ish hour experience or hundreds if you feel like sticking around. Has a better story than most in the genre while matching the gameplay of the best, and you can do some truly silly stuff with the right combination of crewmates/ships. Great fun, and a must play if you like the genre.